Lagat, Rupp Both Under American Record in BIG 5,000

In an early exhibition Masters Mile, Saucony/Hurtin’ For Certain ace Chris Teague uncorked a 31-second final 200 for the win in 4:29:05 with Ray Pugsley right on his heels. “I figured that’s what it would take to win,” said Teague. “This was a fast crowd.”
Corey McGee had won Millrose by running the legs off Rosalyn, NY’s Emily Lipari. Not this time. Villanova-bound Lipari hung tight with the fast pace thrown down by McGee and then blew by on the final lap backstretch to win in a meet record 4:46.77. Phillips-Exeter junior Kristen Coogan – daughter of Olympians Mark & Gwyn Coogan – ran a PR 4:59 but wasn’t totally satisfied: “It was a fast pace and I got pushed out the back end, if I stayed more in the middle I would have pushed myself to get further under five.”
The Millrose boys mile winner took the junior 8-lapper out, but this was a stronger field than Millrose. Returned from injury, Fayetville-Manlius (NY) star Alex Hatz won going away in 4:12.08.
–Bob F.

BOSTON
– As the Mid-Atlantic weathered a blizzard, a drive up Interstate 95
found the world’s best track and field athletes scorching the Reggie
Lewis Track & Athletic Center in front of a capacity crowd at the
Reebok Boston Indoor Games. The star of the night was World Champion,
Olympic medalist and President of the Millrose Games boards, American
Bernard Lagat.

Lagat had stated his goal: to break the American record at
5000m in his maiden race indoors at the distance. Despite the
enlistment of pace-setters, Lagat’s goal looked unlikely as the field
was more than two seconds behind record pace early on. By the 3,000m
mark, the record seemed so improbable that the in-stadium announcer had
stopped announcing lap splits.

But with 1000m to go, the reigning American record holder,
Galen Rupp, seized the lead and pushed the pace. Lagat and Ethiopians
Dejen Gebremeskel and Bekana Daba covered the move, the pace benefiting
from Rupp’s efforts.

With 300m to go Lagat narrowly escaped being boxed in and
moved to the front. Employing his miler-trained kick, he took the win
and set the American Record in 13:11.50. Gebremeskel pushed his way to
second in 13:11.78 with Bekana Daba taking third in 13:11.78.

For the second straight week, Lagat was named the Team USA
Athlete of the Meet presented by Visa. Lagat will once again donate
his $2500 bonus for the award to the Haitian Relief Fund.

Trammell takes hurdles again

The defending Indoor Visa Champion and Millrose winner,
Terrence Trammell crashed into the first three hurdles while storming
to his second victory of the Visa Championship Series season in the
Visa men’s 60m hurdles. His victory, in 7.49 seconds, broke his own
meet record (7.53). American Eric Mitchum moved up for second in 7.61,
followed by 2005 world champion Ladji Doucoure of France, third in 7.68.

Ethiopia-U.S. battle in women’s 3000m

The 3,000m became a three-woman race with four laps
remaining as Ethiopian stars Kalkidan Gezahegn and Genzebe Dibaba
joined American 1,500m star Shannon Rowbury in rousing the crowd.
Gezahegn fended off a final move by Dibaba on the bell lap to take the
victory in 8:46.19. Dibaba was second (8:47.01) and Rowbury followed
in third (8:47.18)

Batman heroic

Bershawn “Batman” Jackson worked hard for his second win in
as many weeks. Batman went from first to third on the final lap of the
men’s 400m after being jostled. Using a strong move on the back
straight, he pulled even with World Outdoor bronze medalist Renny Quow
of Trinidad. Jackson surged to the lead with 15m to go and finished
first (46.86), with Quow taking second (47.15) and Jamaal Torrance
third (48.00).

Dibaba the destroyer

In the highly anticipated Visa women’s 5,000m, Ethiopian
legend Tirunesh “The Baby-faced Destroyer” Dibaba put on another
solo-running workshop, completing the final 10 minutes of her race
alone before winning in 14:44.53. Former 8-time NCAA champion Sally
Kipyego was second in 14:52.67.

Barber does it again

Millrose Games winner Lisa Barber proved once again that
she is fully recovered from her 2009 achilles injury. Showing her
usual, explosive start, Barber led from start to finish to take the
victory in the women’s 60m in 7.22. Marshevet Myers (7.29) took second
followed by Muna Lee (7.30).

Ivory coasts

New week, same result as Ivory Williams bested 2009 US
Outdoor 100m champion, Michael Rodgers, for the victory in the Visa
Men’s 60m. The race unfolded similar to the Millrose Games as Williams
(6.51) took the lead from the start and hung on for a close victory
over Rodgers (6.53). Daniel Bailey moved up for a third place finish
(6.54).

Around the Reggie

In other events, DeeDee Trotter showed she has fully
recovered from a knee injury in 2008 and a subpar 2009 to return to the
top of the podium, leading wire-to-wire in the women’s 400m, winning in
53.09. Jeremy Scott won the men’s pole vault with a clearance of
5.60m/18-4.5, while Chelsea Johnson won the women’s vault for the
second straight week, with a clearance of 4.55m/14-11. Shalonda Solomon
won the Reebok women’s 200m in 23.53, and Damu Cherry came from behind
to win the women’s 60m hurdles in 8.00, just ahead of Canadian Perdita
Felicien (8.01).

Winners of exhibition events Saturday night included Emily
Lipari in the high school girls’ mile, setting a meet record in
4:46.77. Alex Hatz won the boys’ high school mile going away in
4:12.08. Chris Teague waited until the last lap to take the lead of the
men’s masters mile run and held on for the victory in 4:29:05, and the
Cambridge Jets won the youth 4x200m relay in 1:42.93.

USA
Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States.
USATF encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, some of the
most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and
junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult
runners in the United States.